In For a Long Night
by bexypants
Summary: Lily and James take their relationship to the next level one night after a party in the Gryffindor common room.  This is the story of how Lily got to have a ring on her finger and why Severus pledged his allegiance to the Dark Lord.


"Hey! Padfoot, wait up!"

Sirius Black turned around to see his best friend James Potter running down a Hogwarts corridor towards him.

"What's up, Prongsy?"

"I need you and Pete to do me a favour tonight," James told him in a slightly hushed voice as he finally caught up to his fast-walking friend.

"And would this favour have anything to do with Lovely Lily?"

"Yeah, actually. I need you and Pete out of the dorm tonight. I have a surprise planned for her," James said, smiling.

"You finally gonna shag her, mate?"

"Oi! Shut up, Padfoot. Whatever Lily and I do tonight is none of your business," James said with a grin. That was just as good as a confession in Sirius's eyes.

"Wormtail and I will stay in the common room until three," Sirius told him, "but once that clock chimes we're back in. And don't try locking us out!"

"Deal," said James as he practically skipped off towards the Quidditch pitch.

* o * o *

After Gryffindor had beaten Ravenclaw that afternoon, Sirius, Peter and James had brought up cakes and Butterbeer from the kitchens to celebrate in the common room. Once the initial celebrations had begun to die down, James looked around the room to see where his friends were. Sirius was in the corner with a bottle of Firewhisky and some girls in sixth year, while Peter was looking on with admiration. Thinking it better than to interrupt their fun, he grabbed Lily's hand and led her up to the seventh year boys' dorm.

"James!" she shrieked. "What are you doing?"

"I've got a surprise for you! Now, just wait here one moment," he told her, leaving her outside the door as he slid in. With a quick wave of his wand he transfigured the room into something more sensual, with candles lit on the ground and a light scent of Jasmine in the air. He removed the curtains from his bed and increased the size of the mattress. Downing a quick contraceptive potion and banishing the vial, he let Lily into the room. She gave a gasp as she noticed what he had transformed the usually dirty, smelly boys' dorm into.

"Now, I understand if you don't want to or don't feel comfortable or anything, in fact I'm fine with that! I don't want to pressure you at all, Lils, but I want you to know that I plan on spending the rest of my life with you. Ever since that first time I saw you on the train in first year I knew it was you who would always hold my heart. I know for a long time I went about impressing you in all the wrong ways, but you've seen how much I've changed. And all for you. I love you, Lily Evans, and I always will, for the rest of my life, no matter what. There's a war going on around us, and I don't know what's going to happen to us after we graduate from here and go out into the real world, but I know I want to spend that time with you. We only have a month left here at Hogwarts, and once we've graduated I want to be sure I do all I can for you; for us. And if I know you, which I'd like to think I do, you won't take what's going on now with Voldemort sitting down. And neither will I. We'll fight together, but in case something were to occur to one of us, I want to die knowing the woman I love was mine," James told her, noticing tears building up in her eyes. He got down on one knee. "Which is why I'm asking you, Lily, will you marry me?"

James pulled a small box out from his robe, and opened it, revealing a small yet stunning diamond on a platinum band. At this point Lily had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Yes!" she cried, launching herself onto him and taking his mouth with hers.

After the kiss ended, James slid the ring onto her her left ring finger and gave her a moment to examine its beauty.

"It's goblin made," he told her. "It belonged to my mum, and she left it to me when she passed away. She wanted me to give it to the girl I'd marry."

"It's beautiful, James. Merlin, I can't believe this!" she laughed while wiping away the tears. She lowered her voice, "I love you."

"Even though I'm an arrogant toe-rag?" he asked.

"Especially because you're an arrogant toe-rag." She kissed him again. "When are Peter and Sirius coming up?" she asked with a seductive smile.

"They won't be up until three, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind it if you slept over," he told her with an equal grin.

"Then I guess we're in for a long night."

* o * o *

Sirius woke up at eight o'clock the next morning with a massive hangover and little recollection of the night before. He seemed to remember a blonde sixth year and Peter dragging him into bed, but the rest of the night was a blur. After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and grabbing a hangover potion from his bedside drawer, he walked over to James' bed. He was surprised to see not only messy black hair, but a tangle of long, red hair as well.

"Oi! Prongs!" he whispered, tapping his friend on the shoulder. James groaned and rolled over, looking Sirius in the eyes.

"What do you want Padfoot?" he mumbled. After grabbing his glasses and realising the time, he groaned again. "It's a Saturday, and you have me up at this ungodly hour because...?"

"Mate, I've got no idea what happened last night!"

"That'd be because of all the Firewhisky you drank, you git. And besides, I spent all last night up here with Lily," he gestured toward the mass of ginger hair next to him. Hearing her name, Lily stirred next to him and stretched her arms overhead. This was when Sirius realised neither were clothed.

"I'm going down to breakfast," he said awkwardly. "No offence, Evans, but I'd rather not see you under that blanket."

"Good morning to you too, Sirius," she said cheekily while yawning.

"I'll bet Pete's down in the Great Hall already, I'll leave you two to your privacy," he told the two with a wink as he pulled on a new pair of robes and left.

James turned to his fiancée and smiled.

"Good morning, soon-to-be Mrs. Potter."

"Good morning, Mr. Potter," she said with a smirk as her hands trailed down his body under the covers.

* o * o *

"Remus, mate! You're back from the hospital wing!" Sirius shouted merrily as he sat across from the werewolf and Peter at the Gryffindor table. They dug into their breakfast, but Sirius noticed a black-haired Slytherin nearing their table.

"Oi, Moony, I didn't tell you yet!" Sirius said loudly enough so the approaching student could hear. "James finally shagged Lily last night!"

"Sirius! Don't go shouting that around!" Remus scolded. But Sirius had gotten his intended result. Severus Snape stalked out of the Great Hall in a huff. It was only his luck that he passed Lily, James and another Gryffindor friend of Lily's. He couldn't help overhearing their conversation.

"And it's goblin made, too!" James chimed in.

"Oh, stop bragging, James," Lily said while trying to suppress a smile.

"So when's the date?" their friend asked.

"Marlene! We've only just got engaged last night! You think we've planned a date already?" Lily laughed. Her face became stoic as she noticed who was listening to the conversation.

"We were a little too busy last night to think about things like that. If you know what I mean," she whispered to Marlene just loud enough for Severus to hear. Maybe she had never gotten over the 'Mudblood' comment, or the fact that he was just so engrossed in the dark arts now, but Lily intended for that comment to sting. Giggling and walking past Severus, they made their way to breakfast.

* o * o *

Later that evening, Severus Snape received the Dark Mark. He was never invited to the wedding, and on hearing the prophecy all those years later, he couldn't help but think about that morning he heard the woman he loved was engaged to his worst enemy.


End file.
